Researcher attempts to create peanut resistant to drought, disease

View full sizeCharles Chen has been breeding peanuts for more than a decade in a quest to create the perfect peanut. The seeds in his hand were designed to be high in heart-friendly oleic acid, resistant to drought and disease, and high yielding. The goal is to create a "big, good-looking peanut." (Press-Register/Ben Raines)

FAIRHOPE, Alabama -- The perfect peanut may be growing in a dusty field outside of Fairhope.

The candidates -- different varieties bred by an expert peanut geneticist -- were planted Thursday morning at Auburn University’s Gulf Coast Research and Extension Center.

The goal is to create a peanut resistant to drought and disease, rich in heart-healthy oleic acid, and able to yield bumper crops year after year.

In short, Charles Chen is trying to grow a super peanut.

Chen, an associate professor at Auburn University and affiliated with the National Peanut Research Laboratory in Georgia, has been breeding peanuts for more than two decades, often hand-pollinating the plants under greenhouse conditions. This spring, he planted experimental varieties in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi, three states considered the golden triangle of U.S. peanut production.

A peanut he patented is being grown in Texas this year.

That variety, he said, has big shells, big nuts and a high yield of what are known in the trade as “high grade” peanuts.

“That’s a big, good-looking peanut,” Chen said, pride in his creation showing in his smile.

Thursday morning, he and Larry Powell sat side by side on top of a John Deere seed planter, feeding hand-selected peanuts into the mechanism as Sam Hilton drove the tractor. Powell and Hilton have worked at the National Peanut Lab for 30 years.

“I want to emphasize drought tolerance,” Chen said, discussing the seeds being planted. “In Alabama, most of the peanuts are grown in unirrigated fields. With climate change, we need to improve the water use. That’s more and more important.”

View full sizeCharles Chen, an Auburn professor and peanut geneticist, and Larry Powell drop seeds a handful at a time into a seed planter on Auburn University's research facility outside of Fairhope. Sam Hilton drives the tractor. Hilton and Powell have worked at the National Peanut Research Laboratory in Georgia for 30 years. (Press-Register/Ben Raines)

Chen began his training in China, at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. China is the global leader in peanut production, followed by India. The United States ranks third in world production, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Peanuts are a global commodity, with the U.S. accounting for less than 20 percent of total production, according to federal statistics. The latest trend in peanuts is increasing the level of oleic acid, which rivals olive oil in cardiovascular benefits. Chen is also working on increasing oil levels with an eye toward peanuts as a biofuel.

“Peanut oil is a good cooking oil, better than corn oil. With the higher oleic acid, we get more nutrition from the peanut,” Chen said. “And the other point with the higher oil content is the use as an energy source.”

Powell said that when harvest time rolled around, the crop planted in the Auburn field would be collected and sent to the National Peanut Lab for analysis.

“We’ll take them and evaluate them for the genetics. We’ll look at oil content, measure them, look at yield,” Powell said.

And then Chen will use the best specimens from this year’s harvest to develop next year’s varieties, perhaps getting a little closer to creating the elusive perfect peanut.